Belichick makes point for tougher PAT process

March 25, 2014|By Dan Wiederer, Tribune reporter

ORLANDO, Fla. — Bill Belichick had not made his formal presentation to the rest of the NFL on Tuesday when he sat down with reporters to discuss why he and the Patriots were lobbying for such a dramatic modification to the extra-point process.

It’s not that Belichick unwaveringly favors moving the snap for point-after-touchdown kicks to the 25, a potentially radical change pitched at this week’s owners meetings after 99.6 percent of extra-point kicks were made in 2013. But Belichick does believe extra points have become too easy.

“We’ve made it a nonplay, and I don’t think non-plays are good for the game,” Belichick said Tuesday during the AFC coaches breakfast. “I’d certainly be open to any other suggestions to make it a more competitive play.

“Like if you were allowed to block it, that would make it more competitive. The way we’ve legislated field-goal rushes (to heighten player safety), it’s almost impossible to block a kick. You can’t overload. You can’t hit the center. You can’t jump. You can’t land on anybody.”

Therefore, Belichick and the Patriots assert, a discussion needs to begin to brainstorm some way to elevate the degree of difficulty of PAT kicks.

A vote on the Patriots’ proposal is scheduled to be taken before the league meetings end Wednesday. But based on sentiment circulating here, odds of that measure receiving approval from 24 of 32 teams seem slim.

“You’re talking about a 43-yard extra point,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. “And then you look at teams that play outdoors all the time compared with teams that play indoors half the season. … The two-point conversion chart would come into play basically every time you line up for (a PAT). You’re factoring in conditions, the field, weather, wind.”

Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt doesn’t favor the change either.

“I’m resistant,” Whisenhunt said, “just because I’ve been around it so long.”

As with significant rules changes that have been implemented in the past — think instant replay and the two-point conversion — everything requires a launching point, even when an actual change may take years to be voted through. And even if the Patriots’ PAT pitch is shot down, competition committee chairman Rich McKay believes the debate will be healthy.

“It’s good that we’re having the discussion,” McKay said. “There are some of us, but probably fewer of us, who really struggle with the statistic of where we are and that it is an automatic point and that maybe there should be some risk, or I should say skill, brought back into the play.”

Added Belichick: “If nobody wants to do it, we’ll leave it the way it is. No problem. Personally and organizationally, we feel differently. But if we’re outliers, that’s fine.”